cold chain Archives

New approach needed to secure cold chain workforce

Posted on 24 June, 2021 by Keith McKinley

A new approach is needed to secure cold chain skills for the future and attract more young people into the industry, Cold Chain Federation President Tim Moran said at the Federation’s recent AGM. His message comes as businesses across the UK’s cold chain are experiencing a labour crunch which threatens to jeopardise the industry’s efforts to revive temperature-controlled supply chains as restrictions ease on the hospitality and food service sectors.

The Cold Chain Federation represents more than 270 companies across the UK, which store and move chilled and frozen food in temperature-controlled storage facilities and refrigerated vehicles, covering more than 500 facilities (35 million cu m of warehousing space), more than 30,000 vehicles and c.100,000 employees. The federation’s AGM took place virtually and key issues discussed included red diesel changes coming into force in 2022, the roadmap towards a net zero UK cold chain, and impacts of the post-Brexit processes for UK-EU and UK-NI trade, as well as the urgent crunch in labour availability.

Tim Moran, Regional Vice President of Lineage Logistics UK, was elected for the third time and will continue to serve as President of the Federation for the next two years. Andrew Baldwin, Managing Director of Reed Boardall’s cold storage division, was elected as Cold Chain Federation Vice President for a two-year term.

Cold Chain Federation President Tim Moran said: “We should be truly proud of what our industry and our people have achieved during this global pandemic, but the cold chain now faces another urgent challenge. As restrictions ease for our customers we need to ramp up dormant supply chains and reconfigure networks, but this is being hindered by a labour shortage.

“Lots of people’s lives have changed in the past 18 months and employees coming off furlough are deciding to retire or take time off, at the same time that many non-UK nationals are unable or reluctant to work away from home under current restrictions. These issues are exacerbated by the IR35 tax changes limiting our ability to draw on agency and sub-contract capacity.

“To ease current workforce pressures the Cold Chain Federation will work for continued common sense extensions to CPC renewals, speeding up driver testing and extending medicals, but the current situation also shows why we need to take action on longer-term cold chain skill shortage issues.

“It is time for us to come together, as an industry and with Government, to take action to attract more young people into our industry and to identify how best to invest in the cold chain skills which are already in short supply and will need to evolve for a net zero future. I have no doubt that an important part of the jigsaw will be greater recognition of driving as a skilled and valued career which should be reflected by Government in the provision of training opportunities and by cold chain customers in the provision of good driver facilities on site.

“Over the coming months the Cold Chain Federation will bring our industry together with Government to discuss the path forward for a secure, flexible and resilient cold chain workforce over the coming years and beyond.”

New guide helps businesses manage cold chain food safety

Posted on 17 June, 202129 July, 2025 by David Priestman

The Cold Chain Federation has published Ensuring Food Safety in the Cold Chain, the first ever complete guide on managing food safety specifically for temperature-controlled storage and distribution.

By bringing together the latest information on compliance, best practice and recommendations for managing the key food safety risks in the cold chain and insights into likely future considerations, the new guide meets the industry’s need for a holistic, comprehensive and up-to-date cold chain food safety reference guide. It can be requested by emailing: compliance@coldchainfed.org.uk.

The Cold Chain Federation has produced Ensuring Food Safety in the Cold Chain guide to make it easier for its members to develop, improve and implement cold chain food safety plans and processes. The Federation will be hosting two free webinars on July 6th and July 7th to demonstrate how businesses working in the cold chain can benefit from using the guide, and to explore the policy developments and practical challenges relating to food safety in the cold chain. Register to join these webinars at www.coldchainfederation.org.uk/food-safety-week/.

Endorsed by global food safety certification leader BRCGS, Ensuring Food Safety in the Cold Chain will be made available as part of BRCGS’s online library platform, Participate, for sites and certification bodies subscribed to the BRCGS Global Standard for Storage and Distribution, as well as via the Cold Chain Federation website. The guide has also been produced with support from the Federation’s members and Primary Authority Partner and the Food Standards Agency.

Cold Chain Federation Policy Director Tom Southall said: “Keeping frozen and chilled food safe is the fundamental purpose of the cold chain. Whilst the UK’s cold chain businesses are experts in keeping the nation supplied with safe food, rapidly evolving innovations and changing consumer demands makes can make maintaining these standards challenging.

“This can require a lot of time spent getting to grips and staying up to date with a range of regulations, certification schemes, and best practice. We have produced this new guide in response to feedback from our members and to help make the process much more straightforward. It aims to help businesses drive for the highest standards of food safety in their facilities and also to support enforcement agencies to better understand the specific functions of the cold chain.”

Ensuring Food Safety in the Cold Chain has been written as a complete guide to food safety issues in the cold chain, however each of its nine chapters can also be used individually as a reference. It is written to indicate what measures are mandatory under food safety legislation, good practice as required for the BRCGS Global Standard for Storage and Distribution (Issue 4), or industry leading best practice and can be used by our members to check their processes, incorporate into their staff training and to strive for the highest BRCGS Storage and Distribution certification grade for their facilities.

Jon Murthy, BRCGS Head of Global Marketing, said: “The global pandemic has placed supply chain resilience firmly front of mind for brands and retailers. It has accelerated the changing role of the warehousing and logistics sector with the growth of e-commerce, the diversification of operational activities and new transport flows. We are delighted to support this new publication that supports the industry to demonstrate supply chain assurance, with the emphasis on ever improving performance rather than compliance with minimum standards.”

The guide includes information and advice on topics including: driving a positive food safety culture, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) in the cold chain, temperature control, preventing and responding to contamination, food allergens, good hygiene practice and defence against food crime.

Cold Chain Federation Chief Executive Shane Brennan said: “With the exit of the UK from the EU and new trade arrangements, we can expect changes in our global food supply chains. At the same time, the Covid-19 pandemic has extended the cold chain to the consumer’s front door. Food safety compliance systems need to be resilient, agile and forward-facing to ensure that good standards maintain safe food throughout the entire food chain from beginning to end, whatever new challenges we are faced with. Our new guide will be an important tool in helping our members continue to be global leaders in operating a robust and safe cold chain.”

Thermo King solutions help deliver vaccine in Brandenburg

Posted on 2 June, 20217 August, 2025 by Keith McKinley

Thermo King, a global leader in intelligent end-to-end temperature-controlled cold chain solutions, and its dealer network are helping UNITAX-Pharmalogistik GmbH ensure precise and stable temperature-controlled transportation of COVID-19 vaccines in Germany.

Unitax, a Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certified expert in pharmaceutical transport and logistics, has been awarded with the exclusive contract to supply all the vaccination centres in the Brandenburg federal state with COVID-19 vaccines.

The GDP-compliant delivery fleet from UNITAX is fully equipped with Thermo King V-Series refrigeration units and features real-time tracking and monitoring. The combination of refrigeration and telematics technologies provide confidence that vaccines remain within the required temperature range, the efficacy and integrity of the product remains intact, and that the medicine will be safe and effective for patients.

“The most important thing is to support safe – and fast – delivery of the vaccine to people,” said Francesco Incalza, president of Thermo King Europe, Middle East and Africa. “At Thermo King, we are helping to ensure the vaccine is quickly and efficiently distributed to the vaccination points, and that means working closely with distribution companies like UNITAX. They can rely on us, and our dealers, to provide the technology and support needed to guarantee the integrity of different variants of the vaccine in transport.”

“UNITAX now supplies about 200 GP practices, around 75 hospitals and eleven vaccination centres. Vaccinations in retirement and nursing homes are carried out by vaccination teams who receive the Covid 19 vaccine from the vaccination centres”, said René Gutke, transport manager at Unitax. “UNITAX is currently on the road with 10 special vehicles, each of which supplies 15 to 20 delivery addresses daily.”

The UNITAX fleet, used for the last-mile transport of the vaccines, consists of GDP-certified Mercedes Sprinter vans with Thermo King V-500 refrigeration units. The temperature in the load compartment is actively monitored via telematics and can be viewed in real time in the Thermo King TracKing portal. All the data from Thermo King TracKing is also seamlessly transferred and integrated into the system of UNITAX’s third party monitoring service provider. It allows UNITAX to have a clear view of all the relevant data, including temperature and door contact sensors, at all times.

“We have been relying on Thermo King refrigeration systems since we started in the pharmaceutical logistics business over 30 years ago,” said René Gutke. “We’ve also been using real-time telematics monitoring ever since it became possible. Knowing we have the Thermo King team on standby – even for mobile service missions in case an urgent repair is needed – gives us the peace of mind.”

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